The Trump administration is advancing plans to restore the Pentagon’s original name, the Department of War, according to the Wall Street Journal.
While the change would likely require congressional approval, the White House is weighing alternatives. Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) has introduced an amendment to the annual defense policy bill to rename the department, signaling some congressional backing.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the title “Department of War” better reflects the military’s offensive capabilities.
“As President Trump said, our military should be focused on offense – not just defense – which is why he has prioritized warfighters at the Pentagon instead of DEI and woke ideology. Stay tuned!” said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
Trump previously publicly pondered changing the Defense Department’s name back to the War Department a few days ago. The government’s largest federal entity was called the War Department from the country’s founding to the late 1940s, following World War II.
“It used to be called the Department of War and it had a stronger sound,” Trump said. “We want defense, but we want offense too … As Department of War we won everything, we won everything and I think we’re going to have to go back to that.”
President George Washington’s first Cabinet included just four departments: State under Thomas Jefferson, Treasury under Alexander Hamilton, the Attorney General’s office under Edmund Randolph, and the War Department, led by Continental Army General Henry Knox.
The War Department remained until 1947, when it was reorganized into the Departments of the Army, Air Force, and Navy. The Navy Department, first established in 1798, had previously operated under the War Department’s authority.
After World War II, President Harry Truman pushed for a unified defense structure to better coordinate U.S. military affairs. In July 1947, he signed the National Security Act, creating the National Military Establishment and establishing the National Security Council, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the U.S. Air Force.
All of these entities were placed under the National Military Establishment, with James Forrestal confirmed by the Senate as its first director the day after it was created. In 1949, the NME was officially renamed the Department of Defense.
The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was dismissed last week after the agency prepared a preliminary bomb-damage assessment — later leaked to the media — that indicated U.S. strikes on Iran had delayed the country’s nuclear program by only a few months.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, who had led the DIA since February 2024, “will no longer serve as DIA director,” a senior defense official told the New York Post.
Deputy Director Christine Bordine is now listed as acting director on the agency’s official website.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly fired Kruse over a “a loss of confidence” in the lieutenant general, two congressional officials told the New York Times.
The DIA’s classified, “low confidence” assessment of the June 21 airstrikes on Iran’s Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz nuclear sites was leaked to CNN three days after U.S. B-2 stealth bombers and cruise missiles targeted the facilities.
An official said the assessment was based on limited intelligence collected the day after the strike. The document reportedly concluded that Iran could restore elements of its nuclear program within one to two months and that its stockpile of enriched uranium had not been destroyed in the airstrikes.
The leak drew sharp anger from President Donald Trump and other senior administration officials. In a Truth Social post, Trump described the leak as “AN ATTEMPT TO DEMEAN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY.” He added in all caps: “THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!”
Special envoy Steve Witkoff dismissed claims that the United States failed to achieve its military objectives in Iran, calling such suggestions “completely preposterous” during an interview on Fox News.